“No. 3 car was the dawg” - Corey LaJoie’s pit crew member explains why Austin Dillon’s team celebrated so hard at Richmond

Ryan Flores, a member of the pit crew for Spire Motorsports #7 team, driven by Corey LaJoie, recently shed light on Sunday's Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. LaJoie started the Cook Out 400 from the back of the grid, in P24, and finished at P34. Flores has now lauded the Richard Childress Racing team for their pit road performance.

RCR's #3 driver Austin Dillon drove down victory lane at Richmond Raceway on August 11. The No. 3 Chevrolet looked like one of the top-performing cars of the weekend and Dillon was a top contender to win. However, besides his overall performance, a double-contact move (against Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano) in the final lap of overtime led to controversy as he crossed the finish line in P1.

Many have slammed the RCR driver for his risky race-winning move. However, Flores believes there's more to it. In a recent video that he shared on X (formerly Twitter), he spoke about Dillon's pit strategy.

"I don't care what happened on the racetrack. I don't care how much they celebrated, and I don't care how shameless they were. What I do care about is performance on pit road, and the #3 car was the dawg of the week, they (RCR's #3 pit crew) crushed it," Flores said.

"They had four stops that were all 8-9's, the same stop. They won the race off pit road, they had the best average of the day, they put them in position. Did he get beat on the last restart? Yes. Did he wreck the field coming to the checkered? Yes. I don't care about that in boats and woes, I care about pit stop times. Them guys won. Maybe that's why they were celebrating so hard," he added.

Corey LaJoie's Spire teammate Carson Hocevar secured a top-ten finish (P8) at the Cook Out 400. However, the #7 driver came in at P34.

LaJoie is currently P30 in the Cup Series driver standings, with 327 points. In 23 race starts this season, he has managed a single top-ten and top-five finish. Without a seat for the 2025 season, Corey Lajoie must prove his mettle to continue competing in the sport.

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"Unlocks a number of possibilities" - Corey LaJoie backs NASCAR's decision to introduce option tire compound

At Richmond, NASCAR introduced two sets of option tires with more grip but higher wear than the primary tires and six sets of the normal primary Goodyear tires. This facilitated some exciting pit strategies in the Cook Out 400.

Corey LaJoie has extended his support for NASCAR's decision, writing (via NASCAR on X):

"This unlocks a number of possibilities. You anticipate with two sets of option tires, everybody's gonna wait till the third segment and I was like, 'Somebody's going to throw them on and make everybody play their hand of cards.'"

Daniel Suarez soared past his competitors in the Cook Out 400 after his team changed to the option tire compound. Suarez was leading the race until the quick wear and tear of the option tire, as he finished at P10.